13 Minimalist Decor Ideas to Make Your Home Look Elegant
Decor Ideas for Minimalist Living
Minimalist living is picking up a lot of steam within the interior design communities as the to-go decor choice for the 2020s. The 90s and 00s were decades of rather over-the-top decoration ideas with pompous items, furniture pieces, and accessories meant to show off wealth. Throughout the 2010s, however, the trend seems to have shifted towards a simple yet elegant idea of “less is more.” Stay tuned as we dive into several minimalist decor ideas that will make your home look elegant.
This shift towards minimalism doesn’t stop at interior design. Even during the construction stages, houses are being built with a minimalist look in mind, with many modern homes having a plain, clean look. Gone are the days where the most acceptable and most popular house exterior look was a yellowish building with a red-tile roof on top. Nowadays, homeowners are braver with their choices, both on the inside, and on the outside.
Interior designers all over the United States (and the world) go out of their way to satisfy their clients’ wishes of showing more with less clutter, to have their houses feel natural and artsy, yet with using as few things as possible in the process. Thankfully, with minimalist home design becoming more and more popular every year, they are proving to be more than able to tackle that challenge.
If you’re not willing to hire an interior designer and have your entire home redecorated but would still like to implement some minimalist decor ideas into your living space, you’ve come to the right place. Check out this list of minimalist decor ideas that will make your home and look to incorporate those that add style and finesse to your daily surroundings!
Look for Materials You Can Mold to Your Liking
When it comes to minimalism, one of the most important principles is to make a lasting impression with as few resources as possible. This is why it is crucial to have furniture that you can mold to your liking. Adding an odd edge here and there, or straightening out something that is supposed to be bent will immediately create that “out-of-place” impression that can be found in many minimalist apartments. But you shouldn’t stop with furniture. Kitchen appliances can fall into this category, as well. You should strive to reduce the number of separate components that make up your kitchen. Using the right countertop materials, for example, can unlock many opportunities for adding variety to your kitchen.
Corian is a great option if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to granite. It is also easier to manipulate and mold to your own liking, meaning that once you learn how to cut Corian properly, you won’t have much trouble using it in whichever way you choose.
You can easily implement this material in the kitchen, particularly the countertops. You can make a really cool Corian countertop with a built-in sink. All of the handiwork can be done via DIY self help, but you’re probably going to have to hire someone to sort out the plumbing. Result? You’re going to have a smooth, minimal countertop surface, with a futuristic-looking sink. On top of that, it’s much easier to clean than wooden or granite countertops!
Fewer Trinkets, More Big Art
Do away with all of the decorative items that take up unnecessary space and clutter up your living space. In fact, if you want to do it right, you should remove all of the decorations except the ones you truly love and can’t do without. Then, you should redesign your decor in a true minimalist fashion: with a few, huge art pieces that will add more character to your spaces. Wall art, such as large paintings, work extremely well in a minimalist setting. Due to their sheer size, they will draw your guest’s attention and fill rooms up with no extra help needed!
Natural Light is the New Lava Lamp
The chances are that you’re too young to remember the lava lamp craze of the 1970s, but back in those days, the now-tacky objects were the absolute bomb. Having a lava lamp made you instantly cool. Nowadays, the same could be said about having large windows and a lot of natural light flowing into your home. It makes rooms feel more alive and brings out the best in nearly every color.
Bring Out Architectural Details
If you have some unusual design elements in your house’s architecture, such as various nooks and crannies in certain parts of the home, don’t be afraid to use them as part of your minimalist decor. Fill up these gaps by turning them into storage spaces, or use unusually shaped walls to create awesome 3D art!
Restrained Color Palette
Minimalist living is all about consistent design and as few varying elements as possible. Many people opt for white walls, as it is the most neutral color, but grey or light blue will do just fine. Avoid darker shades and unusual combinations, as they can make your rooms feel cluttered without a lot of items.
If you want to mix it up a little, make sure the color differences make sense and try to limit the palette to two or three colors. Color change is one of the best minimalist decor ideas to alter the entire look and feel of a space.
Play Around with Textures
In a true “less-is-more” fashion, varying textures can have more impact on your home than thousands of objects. One odd wall with a hue textured wallpaper can change up the feel of a room in an instant! Play around with texture and see what works.
Focus on the Focal Points
A focal point is something that naturally draws the attention of the viewers towards one single point. In terms of interior design, it can be anything from an unusual piece of art, a coffee table, to an oddly textured wall.
By having strong focal points in your living space, your minimalist space will feel rich and stylish, even though it’s mostly empty. It works…try it!
Geometry is Your Friend
When it comes to minimalist decorating styles, one commonality that can be noticed in most of the interior spaces used as examples of this style is the designer’s obsession with geometry. This means that you should not be scared to explore and experiment with a wide variety of shapes and angles when acquiring furniture for your home. Go wild with armchairs that have a lot of sharp angles and look like something straight out of a tacky sci-fi film. Or go in a completely opposite direction: buy sturdy, blocky pieces of furniture that don’t try to hard to be artsy, but are handy and provide plenty of value for what they are.
When you decide on a certain geometrical style, remember to stick with it, but not get to monotone. For example, if you choose to go with blocky, rectangular furniture, don’t forget to break apart this style with a round table or something with smoother edges, just to add a little variety to the mix.
Minimalist Shouldn’t Mean Boring: Get Creative!
A lot of people subscribe to the misconception that minimalist interior design is a boring trend, suitable only for old, white people or younger, but equally boring, career-focused twenty-somethings. Nothing could be further from the truth. Minimalism is a design niche that embraces utility and does away with unnecessary clutter, but it doesn’t mean that it leaves no space for creativity.
Quite the contrary — if you take a look at some of the most widely praised examples of minimalist architecture and interior design, you’ll quickly notice that the best designers use space and limited art pieces to create a beautiful, clean space, where the creative vision does not get lost beneath a thick layer of pseudo-artistic trinkets.
Remember: minimalism is all about subtlety. Focus on the minute details and try to add your creative touches in low profile areas in order to achieve the best effect. That, in combination with big art pieces, will surely inspire awe in all of your guests.
Scale is Crucial to Decor Harmony
The minimalist lifestyle and design choices are becoming increasingly popular among young adults who are only beginning to live independently and move into their first apartments. Without too much money to spend on furniture and home improvements, minimalism seems to be the perfect option to make their spaces look nice without not breaking the bank while at it.
If you live in a small apartment and want to embrace minimalism, one thing you should focus on first and foremost is scale and how it plays into your perception of space. For example, having a sizeable sofa in a tiny living room is really unnecessary. Although it may not seem like it, it takes up a decent amount of space, which could easily be freed up by swapping the sofa out for a thinner settee.
The same goes for coffee tables. A bulky table in front of the couch has turned into something of a “default setting” in most homes, even those that do not really have enough space for it. Consider opting for stack nesting tables instead. They are not nearly as space-consuming while performing the role of a large coffee table just as well as the real thing, if not better.
Simplicity = Minimalism
If you’re about to embark on your first adventure with minimalist design, you might be tempted to incorporate as much furniture and art that is considered “minimalist” into your space as possible. Resist that temptation.
Yes, big art pieces and furniture with a lot of angles can add character to minimalist spaces, but you should not turn them into the main point of the entire design. You should always stay true to the main idea of “less is more”.
If implemented correctly, one, big art piece, whether it is a sculpture or a painting, can say more than a thousand small, bland ones. Sure, these grandiose pieces may tempt you to chase after more similar art, but it might not be the best course of action. If you’re not careful, you might accidentally turn your home into an art gallery, which may not be what you initially intended or desire.
Don’t Be Afraid to Get a Little Edgy
Now that you know that you should try to use less furniture and art, but try to extract as much impact from these pieces as possible, you should try to find ways in which you can make that possible. What better way to make a lasting impression on your visitors than embracing your inner interior design guru? Breaking some established rules won’t only make your home seem much cooler, but it will also help you embrace some minimalist principles.
One of the better examples of the “edgy” minimalist approach is leaning your art against the wall instead of hanging it up. Of course, this will only work with one or two paintings — if you’re planning for more visual art to enrich your living room, you’d be better off hanging it up. Otherwise, your home will start resembling a storage facility. A large, singular painting in the room, on the other hand, would work perfectly. This sort of lackadaisical approach to exhibiting art is sure to make the kind of impression we’re talking about on this point.
There are many other ways to go about breaking pre-established design norms while getting the most out of the stuff you already have. Using furniture and objects differently from their originally intended purposes is another one. Wooden chairs, for example, make for great nightstands!
Final Home Decor Ideas for Minimalists
With these minimalist home decor ideas, you can set out and become your own interior designer completely for free! Of course, it might be a good idea to reach out for the opinion of a seasoned professional. However, be aware that nothing stops you from achieving a modern, minimalist look without spending a fortune in the process!
If you need more inspiration regarding minimalism, be sure to continue your research into modern home designs. Our list is comprehensive and will surely set you on your way, but it is by no means the be-all, end-all of interior design intricacies. Good luck!
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Simple Minimalist Decor Ideas that Will Make Your Home Look Elegant
About Anita Clark Realtor
Anita Clark has written 648 posts on this blog.
by Anita Clark Anita is a residential Real Estate Agent in Warner Robins Georgia, with Coldwell Banker Access Realty (478) 953-8595, aiding buyers and sellers with all their real estate questions on her Warner Robins blog.